Elbow Room

How can you tell…

The maroon from the red
The wheat from the bread
The puddle from the pond
The loved from the fond

The roving from the still
The predator from the kill
The oxygen from the breath
The real from the step

The food from the crops
The rain from dewdrops
The sky from the earth
The last from the first

The eye from the sight
The black from the white
The enemy from the mentor
The fringe from the center
The paint from the hue
The I from the You

The fleeting from the caught
The unresolved from the sort
The many from the few
The one from the two

The dimple from the tear
The sacrilege from that revered
The caress from the handshake
The lover from the rake

For everything seems inter-meshed
From gay laughter to wretchedness
From the natural to insinuation
Is it love or infatuation?

The line that divides
The opposite might also be right
The safe from the danger
The self or the doppelganger?

This moment from that past
The miniscule from the vast
You say it is the best
Are you certain about rest?